sylviak

Since you have broken needles and hit the sole plate a number of times, your machine probably needs to be timed. This will require a trip to your sewing machine repair shop. I had that happen when going over a very large seam and part of the needle was broken off on the inside. It sewed OK for awhile, then began hitting the sole plate. I took it in and he re-timed it (and removed the little piece of needle) and it works great now! Good luck!

Pat G

I didn't know about the timing thing. I just sewed a binding on a quilt & had no prob. with that. It must be the way I'm FMing. I'd better get it figured out since needles aren't free.

Pat P

I too have problems of needles breaking but all the above info is good. I usually go thru two needles a quilt, anyone of the reasons above would be the explanation.

deedum

I changed my needle to a quilting needle, and no more breaking. True, if you move your hands and material to fast, it will catch and boom, broken needle!

jitkaau

Try to eliminate drag on the needle by having a big flat table to support you quilt whilst you are quilting and use nothing lighter than a 90/14 needle to quilt with.If you can get a sole plate that is designed for straight stitching (with a single hole in it) it can be a help as well. You will get a better stitch as the embroidery plates have a bit more 'give' than the single stitch plates.As others have mentioned here, it is good to have a practice sandwich that you can use for about 10 minutes before you start on your quilt each time. It will loosen you up and get you into the rhythm.Also, if you are doing a lot of quilting you should change the needle often. It is already too blunt when you can hear it popping when it goes into the material.Good luck with your project

lbelkin

You didn't say what machine you have but I can totally sympathize with you. I had this happen to me on a Pfaff Creative Vision. I was so frustrated I wanted to scream. I finally found out that I was using the wrong free motion foot. I was using the one for the Pfaff 2170. The two feet looked exactly the same. Once I switched to the new creative vision free motion quilting foot I have not had a problem. No needle breakage at all. I couldn't believe the difference. Make sure you are using the right foot for your machine. Hope this helps.

quilter1943

by now you've probably finished, but I agree about the heavier needle. Not sure of the number becauses I keep my FMQ needles in a separate needle case. When you're moving the fabric (along with batting) it puts a lot more stress on the needle. Try that.

nclauri

This was my thought. I just experienced a similar problem and it was tension related.

janeknapp

Your thread might be getting hung up somewhere along the line. Is it caught in the slit to hold the thread end on the spool or wrapped around the spool spindle? That has happened to me and caused the needles to break. You might need to get a separate spool holder that sits beside your machine with the tall rod.

j

Were you trying to use a fancy stitch in the machine. With FM you can only use a straight stitch and you make it fancy. -- J.